book review
Just finished up Ex-Libris this weekend.
It reminded me a bit of "The Name of the Rose" in many ways. Ex-Libris, like all the other books on my queue this season, is one of those Biblio-thrillers, the plot centers around a particular book or manuscript.
Although I really enjoyed this book, there were times where the author lost me a bit, just before the final climax of the novel. However, by the time all the cards were played, those loose threads made sense. Unlike the poorly written DaVinci Code, the surprise in this novel wasn't out of nowhere, and in fact, was carefully forshadowed in many ways throughout.
One of the most interesting things about this book was one of it's central themes: religion vs. science. Now, it takes place in 1660, so one of the conflicts is the Roman Catholic church's suppression of the 'theory' that the Earth revolves around the sun. As I was reading this, I couldn't help but make other parallels (Theory of Evolution, anyone?). It also had the idea of religious warefare high in my mind over the past week.
The main character is interesting and believable. The ended had many similarities to The Name of the Rose, although I think I was more upset by the end of the latter than this novel.
So, yeah, I really liked Ex-Libris. Now I started Codex and I want to scratch the pages out. The author's prose is HORRIBLE. After reading the distinquished prose in Ex-Libris, reading this author is like reading a poor imitation of a writer. It's rather disappointing (and goes to show that just because one graduates from Harvard and Yale, as this author did, doesn't mean one can write. ARGH. It's annoying. He needs to describe every little thing in obnoxious detail, like when someone is just starting out in writing, and doesn't really understand description, but feels it has to be in there anyway. He really thinks he's more clever than he is.
It reminded me a bit of "The Name of the Rose" in many ways. Ex-Libris, like all the other books on my queue this season, is one of those Biblio-thrillers, the plot centers around a particular book or manuscript.
Although I really enjoyed this book, there were times where the author lost me a bit, just before the final climax of the novel. However, by the time all the cards were played, those loose threads made sense. Unlike the poorly written DaVinci Code, the surprise in this novel wasn't out of nowhere, and in fact, was carefully forshadowed in many ways throughout.
One of the most interesting things about this book was one of it's central themes: religion vs. science. Now, it takes place in 1660, so one of the conflicts is the Roman Catholic church's suppression of the 'theory' that the Earth revolves around the sun. As I was reading this, I couldn't help but make other parallels (Theory of Evolution, anyone?). It also had the idea of religious warefare high in my mind over the past week.
The main character is interesting and believable. The ended had many similarities to The Name of the Rose, although I think I was more upset by the end of the latter than this novel.
So, yeah, I really liked Ex-Libris. Now I started Codex and I want to scratch the pages out. The author's prose is HORRIBLE. After reading the distinquished prose in Ex-Libris, reading this author is like reading a poor imitation of a writer. It's rather disappointing (and goes to show that just because one graduates from Harvard and Yale, as this author did, doesn't mean one can write. ARGH. It's annoying. He needs to describe every little thing in obnoxious detail, like when someone is just starting out in writing, and doesn't really understand description, but feels it has to be in there anyway. He really thinks he's more clever than he is.